Jack of all trades, master of none

What do you call a device that can be either a laptop or a tablet, or even a few additional novel form factors in between? A Lenovo ThinkPad Helix, that’s what—which, as the name implies, is a hybrid with a twist.

Note: This review was originally featured in the October 2013 issue of the magazine.

Second swing at Extreme SSD scores a hit

The last time we saw the SanDisk Extreme SSD it wasn’t exactly “extreme.” It was a fine drive and all, and we awarded it a “what a nice boy” verdict of 8 because it was decent, but it didn’t blow off our anti-static leashes or anything. The problem was it was a “me, too” SSD, using 24nm toggle NAND and an LSI SandForce SF-2281 controller, which was all the rage in the ancient SSD era of 2012. Times have changed though, and SandForce isn’t the only game in town anymore. SSD manufacturers are now trying to separate themselves from the pack of wannabes by going with different combinations of controllers and NAND flash, and that’s the tactic SanDisk has employed this time around by changing both the NAND flash and the controller, making the Extreme II SSD an all-new drive.

Note: This review was originally featured in the September 2013 issue of the magazine.

X marks the spot

In the world of enthusiast system cooling, water is the new black. Even the fanciest, biggest air cooler can’t seem to keep up with a good closed-loop liquid cooler these days. NZXT ups the ante by expanding from the standard 12cm form factor to 14cm. It may not seem like much, but the increased surface area gets impressive results, especially when the Kraken X60 doubles it to 28cm.

Note: This review was originally featured in the September 2013 issue of the magazine.

15.6-inch Ultrabook both delights and disappoints

The Spectre XT TouchSmart is HP’s creme-de-la-creme consumer Ultrabook. In some ways, it lives up to that lofty mantle; in others, it doesn’t. The notebook is attractive all right, in a brushed-metal-chassis, black-island-keyboard kind of way. We also like that the interior is free of branding, save the Beats Audio logo on the speaker grill. But if the term “Ultrabook” conjures up images of dainty thin-and-lightness, the Spectre TouchSmart XT will cure you of that. The 15.6-inch all-aluminum body looks sleek enough—and its .87-inch height is within Intel’s Ultrabook specification—but its lap weight of nearly five pounds (close to six pounds with the power brick) will surprise you with its heft. At least it did us.

Note: This review was originally featured in the September 2013 issue of the magazine.

Just call it Zeus

Not everyone can afford a $16,500 Dream Machine. In fact, not many people could afford even half of what we spent to build this year’s Dream rig. Well, actually, most people probably wouldn’t even spend a third of that on a new rig.

Note: This review was originally featured in the September 2013 issue of the magazine.

Find out which Chromebook offers the best performance and battery life

Chrome OS and Chromebooks are a perhaps the thinnest main-stream consumer client you can get today. Hell, next to Chrome OS, Android, IOS and even Windows RT, look positively fat with their full service OS functionality. No, make no mistake about it, Chrome OS is pretty much a browser in a box.

The luxury lover’s laptop

While much of the PC industry is hustling to bring lower-cost Ultrabooks to market, Toshiba is unabashedly raising the high end, complete with an all-new brand meant to ooze excellence. The first product to wear this proud badge is the 13.3-inch Kirabook. With its upmarket looks, über-high-res screen, and serious-for-its-size parts, this high-priced newcomer is gunning for no less than Apple’s Retina display–boasting MacBook Pro.

Note: This review was originally featured in the August 2013 issue of the magazine.

We audition several streaming music services and give you the low down on each one

A candidate for the world's oldest known instrument is the Divje Babe Flute carved from the femur of a cave bear over 40,000 years ago. Replicas proved it was capable of two and a half octaves, or three if overblowing. Over time, musical instruments would become more sophisticated, as would the songs, but one thing that hasn't changed is the inherent love of music that nearly all human beings seem to possess.

A Jolly Green Giant of GPU performance

Maingear calls its Shift Super Stock Z87 the Mean Green Machine and it’s hard not to agree with that moniker.

Is there any other way to describe a gaming rig with not one GeForce GTX Titan, or even two—but freakin’ three of them? Yes, three of the world’s fastest single-GPU cards all singing harmoniously together against the tyranny of slow frame rates.

Note: This review was originally featured in the August 2013 issue of the magazine.